Page 10-THE NEWS-January, 1988
Why I Participated in the March
By Shira N. Melenson
If you lived in the ’60s,
you’d know what it means to
protest. I went to a protest
but it was slightly different
from the protests of the hip
pies. I went to Washington,
D.C. on December 6 to support
our fellow brothers and sis
ters, not the causes of the
flower children, but our fellow
Jews.
Going to this event was dif
ferent from attending services
or going to a Kadima meeting.
This meeting, with over
200,000 Jews, gave me a great
feeling of unity and belonging,
not just to the Charlotte
Jewish community but to the
Jews of the world.
For the brief period of time
that I was in Washington, in
fact only a day, I felt like I
really belonged to the Jewish
people. It’s hard to feel like
you are part of the Jewish peo
ple when your gentile friends
can't understand why you are
the only Jew they know who
keeps kosher or stays out of
school on Jewish holidays. But
this experience made me more
confident about my Jewish
identity because I know I am
part of a large Jewish popula
tion.
A multitude of Jews are
trapped in the USSR — unable
to leave. No — they are not
allowed to read Hebrew. No —
they are not allowed to pray in
synagogues and at home. J ust
like me, you probably take for
granted your freedoms of
speech and religion. Russian
Jews don’t have the choice as
to whether they do or do not
want to go to synagogue this
Saturday. They just can’t.
Shira Melenson
This trip to Washington and
the subsequent summit meet
ing of Mikhail Gorbachev and
President Reagan, represented
to me a chance to make up for
what we didn’t do during
World War II, when we could
have saved some Jews. Well,
this is the same situation. Yes,
we are losing Jews — no, not
to the gas chambers, but to
atheism. Russian Jews are dy
ing in a different way.
According to statistics, four
out of ten Jews are intermar
rying. This means that we are
losing many, many of our Jew
ish population. A small minori
ty is slowly but surely becom
ing smaller. We made our ef
fort, but it is not enough. It is
unlikely that this one rally wiU
succeed in freeing all Soviet
Jews who wish to leave Rus
sia. We must £ill keep trying
through letters and rallies. We
must not stop until every So
viet Jew who wants to leave is
allowed to do so.
(Editor’s note: Shira, 12,
daughter of Cynthia and
Richard Melenson, is a 7th
grader at Piedmont Middle
School. She is a member of
Temple Israel and attends The
Consolidated Jewish High
School.}
Phil Joffe, Todd Joffe, Roz Cooper
photo/Mike Minkin
\
Pro-Soviet Jewry Mar^
Personal Reflections of December 6
By Phil Joffe
We used to call it a “happen
ing,” a major event involving
many and forgotten by few.
December 6, 1987 Washington
D.C. was a “happening” which
I ’11 never forget and hopefully,
neither will my two boys.
The impact of this day was
first sensed when we rounded
a corner and the grassy ellipse
became visible. It was between
us and the Washington Monu
ment. There were a lot of peo
ple and a lot of signs, banners
and posters. A lot of color and
a lot of movement. By the time
the March was to begin, the
ellipse would be filled to over
flowing but when we stepped
onto the grass people were in
loose groups across its ex
panse. Jewish music was per
formed live on a portable
stage. An announcer was
broadcasting lists of states
and assigned staging areas.
States. It just dawned on me
that the announcer said
states. It was as if it never oc
curred to me that this event
was going to be so large as to
coordinate people by states.
Not by temples, not by com
munities, but by whole states.
We ate lunch while st£inding
around the 8-foot tall North
Carolina sign in staging area 4.
Everytime I looked up there
were more people. Well before
the March began, the com
pression was such that you
couldn’t hold your arms out
and turn completely around
without touching several peo
ple. The magnitude of this
“happening” was sinking in a
little more.
It was awesome. So many
people from so many places,
all there at one time, all speak
ing with one voice in support
of human rights. For many it
was the first protest demon
stration since the late 1960s.
These people were of all ages.
They were as old as my dad
and as young as my children.
They were my age. Most were
Jewish. Some were not. They
had come together from all
corners of the world: Canada,
South Africa, Hawaii, Israel,
and they were here in Wash
ington on this rectangular,
grassy park all around me.
Everybody was here to make
the same statement by his
physical presence. The time
and effort emd expense of each
person underlined his intense
belief in the rights of people, of
all people, but focusing, on
this day, on the Soviet Jews
who have been unable to leave
the Soviet Union to pursue
lives of their choosing...to be
free Jewish men and women...
just like us...just like me. It
was a very emotionally mov
ing experience realizing that
so many people share a belief
with an intensity similar to
our own.
Strength in numbers? I
guess so. But it was the per
sonification of the numbers
which really struck home.
Then the March began and
several dozen people wearing
the same light blue baseball
caps merged onto the street
alongside of us. They were
from Cumberland County,
New Jersey and their hats had
printed on the front “Free
Joffe!” Something about see
ing my name struck a deep
chord. I don’t think that
there’s any family relation
ship; only my dad and his
brother escaped Europe. There
is no one else on his side of the
family. But there was a speci
fic person. A Soviet Jew. And
we shared the same name. A
light blue baseball cap on a
sunny but cold day in Wash
ington reduced the enormity
of the meaning of the day’s
events down to a number I
could comprehend: one, me.
They played the “Star
Spangled Banner” before the
speeches began. Over 200,000
voices sang. Then a shofar was
blown. I shivered down to my
marrow. I think a lot of others
did too.
We heard much of what we
had expected to hear. The
words and phrases were not
unfamiliar, and I don’t think
anyone expected them to be.
What was said seemed less im
portant than the fact that
there were 200,000 people
standing together £ind listen
ing.
I’m glad my boys were
there. The day brought us
closer together and tightened
the bonds between ourselves,
the millions of Jews who came
before us and the millions yet
to come.
In our lives, Sunday, Decem
ber 6, 1987 in Washington,
D.C. will be remembered as a
true “happening,” involving
many and to be forgotten by
few and most certainly not by
me.
march iaS'j
SOVIET
^ DEC.e.WASHll^1
IePEWATIOW CHARf
Charlotte youths carr:
Charlotte delegation enroui
(Front L to R) Meg Goldstein, Amelia and Bill
R) Matt Luftglass, Emily Zimmern and Barry
Mike Minkin, executive director CJF, being ii
Marching along together.’
photo/Mike Minkin
Jews and non-Jews, the old, the not-so-old, and the youth all gathered
together for the March. Pictured are Laura Grifenhagen (L), Rachel Klein
(R), girl in center is ‘Jennifer,’ Rachel's friend.
photo/Walter Klein
> J
More of our delegation — not
*%et Our People Go
9f